THE FLORIDA POCAHONTAS. 97 



" A sad day it was in St. Jago de Cuba, when Ortez came back 

 with that Indian boat, and the grim tale of disaster. Solemn-mov- 

 ing men, cloaked to the chin, in spite of the tropical air, clustered 

 together in the Plaza. Lustrous eyes were dim with tears, and 

 duennas hurried hither and yonder to gather some scrap of hope 

 for mistresses whose young love was buried in the buzzard's maw. 



"Ortez was summoned to the presence of Narvaez's widow, 

 In a few moments he had entered the quadrangular stone court, 

 and stood in a room where the light came in through latticed 

 windows, and the air was cool with the splash of waters, whose 

 music brought back to his memories the houses of Seville. The 

 stately dame of the lost knight sat on a cushion by the window. 

 Her eyes were hollow with watching and grief, and her voice was 

 deep and low. Behind her sat her daughter, with a black veil 

 shrouding her face. The soldier, leaning on his sword, at her 

 word of command, told the story of their cruise, of their landing 

 and bitter war. He narrated how, one by one, the leaders found 

 inglorious deaths by disease, by heat, by arrows, or flood or 

 quicksand, and how presently they had none to command but 

 De Vacca. 



" ' But your chief — your chief, man ! Where did he fall — how 

 did he die — did you kill the foeman that struck him, and honour 

 his corpse as a king's ? ' demanded the woman. 



" ' De Narvaez did not die by my side, or I would have revenged 

 him ; nor was his body buried by our band.' 



" ' Where did he die — how — when ? Speak faster, man.' 



" ' I don't know how he died. They say he died like a hero ; 

 and when attacking a fort at Apalachi, with his good sword 

 cleared a road so far into the stockade, that his men could not get 

 to him, and there he remained and fell.' 



" ' And where were you, did you leave your chief, heathen 

 Moor ? ' 



'"No; would I come back to Cuba had I done that ? I was 

 not with Narvaez's band ; they had separated before into five parties.' 



" ' Who was with my husband ? ' 



" ' They are all dead that saw him fall, or prisoners among the 



Indians.' 



G 



